Hardly Anywhere Else
by suspensegirl
Summary: POST 3X14 - Chuck talks with his mother about "everything", but somehow Blair keeps coming up. one-shot.


A/N: Okay, so, this is a super-super, mini-mini, short-short one-shot!! Lolol. I mean, chances are it'll be super long knowing me (XD), but maybe not. We'll just have to see. Lol. This is just some cute fluff of Chuck telling his mother about Blair at the end of 3x14, since she wanted to know "everything" about him. Heheh. The promo/extended promo worries me. I can almost see how Chuck would let Jack's reminder of what he did with Blair the year before drive them apart…*gulp* So, to ignore that temporarily and to push it even into my newest story _("The Edge"_), I am going to write some lovely little fluff. YAY! =D haha

*I own nothing

* * *

Talking to his _mother_ about his life had been greater than he'd ever thought possible. He was giddy inside to a degree that he'd never imagined possible. This was what kept him living every day, in hopes of this. The other reason was Blair, for obvious reasons. Because of that fact, he should have expected the question – or rather, demand – about the woman herself.

"So, tell me about that girl that left some time ago. You two seem awfully close."

He chuckled, shaking his head. "In more ways than one," he found himself muttering. Elizabeth cocked her head to the side.

"And what does that mean?" she asked sincerely. His eyes flicked up to hers. "Are you in love with her?" His breath caught in his throat at the statement.

"Yes," he breathed, an instant after the question had been asked. His eyes were pinned to hers and he saw the warmth that filled her gaze.

"You're very lucky," she said. He smiled softly. "I can see she cares a lot about you." The butterflies erupted in his stomach as the wonderful reminder of how in love Blair was with him and he with her returned rapidly.

"Yes," he said softly.

"How did you two meet?" she asked, crossing one leg over the other at the knee. She looked inquisitively at him.

"Uh…" he laughed lightly, certainly not having planned to tell his mother the specifics of his and Blair's relationship. "Kindergarten," he said, finally recalling the actual date. Her eyebrows rose to the top of her forehead.

"That's quite early to consider…"

"She wasn't interested in me until a couple of years ago, and initially it was more by force than anything else." _Though she did initiate that kiss in the back of the limo_, he reflected, smirking. "I was a…" he sighed, smiling wide now, "…a stupid kid," he confirmed, his lips pursed as he looked up at her. She shook her head softly.

"No, not at all, Charles. You just had some growing up to do." Her hand drifted to his face and she pushed back some of his hair through her fingers. The feeling was unlike anything he'd ever felt. Even the beauty and warmth always ebbing from Blair's fingertips could not amount to his. Despite his mother's story, the fact that she was focusing in on him now almost made all those years with his father worth having. He suddenly felt himself quite willing to believe anything she said. The need to have her hold him right then was overwhelming.

"Charles?"

His eyes opened slowly. He was unaware they had shut. The smell and feel of her had made him think he was dreaming.

"Yes," he breathed.

"What is her name?" she asked, quirking her head to the side.

"Oh, Bl—" he cleared his throat, "Blair."

She smiled warmly as he forced a more "put-together" demeanor to surround him. He clearly felt foolish in having become so wrapped up in her. Without warning, Elizabeth leaned forward and hugged him. He was near breathless through the experience, finding himself clutching at her shirt and holding on for dear life. She thought she felt a tear or two slip onto her jacket. It was at that moment she regretted every and any action she had committed that had driven her away from her son.

"Forgive me, Charles," she began. Slowly his head pulled away. He was almost shaking. "But…without such love as I'm offering…"

_She loves me_, he thought, fighting desperately to keep the overjoyed smile from sweeping over his features in the midst of her serious question. He couldn't believe she had already come to that conclusion.

"…how did you –"

"Blair," he blurted, hardly knowing where it had come from. She looked up at him curiously, clearly dropping the question. He shook his head at the abrupt way in which he'd answered. He wrapped a hand around his neck and tried very carefully to speak appropriately in the way in which his mind had gone. He cleared his throat.

"A lot of hard things happened to me over the last year." He sighed, avoiding her concerned gaze. "Without Blair, I…I wouldn't be where I am today." He looked back up at her.

"Maybe you should tell her that," she said softly. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly as if he did not understand.

"She knows," he said, "Ever since I told her I love her about a year ago, I…well, I can't stop telling her," he smiled, his butterflies bursting for Blair all over again. He shook his head, knowing nothing right then could stop him from smiling for _his_ Blair. "My only worry is that one of these days I'll do something horrible or she'll just suddenly realize that I don't deserve her and leave." He chuckled, but even as little as she knew him, Elizabeth sensed the hidden vulnerability. She lifted up Chuck's chin so that he had to look at her.

"If she really loves you, as I can very much tell, that wouldn't even be an option in her mind." She said it with such soft passion and urgency that he thought maybe he'd imagined it, maybe it was perhaps…unreal. But he knew it wasn't. He believed every word that woman said. And in a flash he saw all his memories with Blair, and with his mother. Blair was so incredibly loyal, and it was clear that Elizabeth was willing to do whatever it took to live up to that same kind of reputation.

"I know," he confirmed, wondering where the playful doubt had come from. Even when she was irritated he could see Blair's love for him, it seemed especially when he was the source of her anger. He chuckled at the thought and suddenly very desperately wanted to hold Blair in his arms. He forced his attention back on Elizabeth.

"You miss her, don't you," she remarked, smirking wildly as she gazed over at her son. He gaped a little, didn't deny it but seemed to be awfully embarrassed at her suggestion.

"It's only been a little over an hour and she only asked me to call in the morning. Besides, I _want_ to be here."

Now she chuckled. "Oh, I wasn't denying your desire to be here, Charles. Nothing would please me more than to spend the entire night talking with you about what happened during the eighteen years we lost. I was just appreciating the view of a man in love."

Chuck nearly lost his breath at her smile. His heart now seemed to be thumping wildly for both his mother _and_ Blair. Every word his mother said reminded him of some action Blair had done to show her love to him, except by physical means naturally. He wanted his mother to know everything about Blair right then. He thought, just in the back of his mind, that he would very much like his mother and Blair to be very close, much like a mother is close with her son's future bride.

"Yes," he said softly, addressing everything she had said in that single word, and then, "I miss her." Elizabeth's eyes twinkled at him and he knew in that instant she would approve of Blair. He approved of the feisty brunette that made world spin and that was all she needed to see.

With that in mind, he knew he wasn't going to wait until morning to tell Blair how he felt and what all happened with his mother. If the woman beside him had been anybody else, he wouldn't have stayed another split second. When his thoughts drifted to Blair, they hardly went anywhere else.

* * *

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this. I'm not entirely satisfied with it, but hopefully you will be and thus will review! =D I shall try to update one of my other fics soon… ;p


End file.
